CodeClan

CodeClan

About

About

CodeClan is Scotland's first digital skills academy, with campuses in Edinburgh and Glasgow. CodeClan offers a range of software development courses through immersive, 16-week coding courses and part-time learning. Our courses will help kick start your career in tech or deepen your digital expertise. CodeClan was created to deal with rising demand for digital jobs in Scotland and the curriculum was created with market demands in mind in conjunction with the Scottish Qualification Authority.

Our full-time, project-based coding course is fast-paced and stimulating – just like your new career in the demanding tech industry will be. We’re the first digital skills academy in the UK to become a Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) approved centre, which means we are the only UK academy to be able to offer a Professional Development Award in Software Development, recognised and endorsed by employers across Scotland. With a high ratio of instructors to students, our teaching approach supplements and complements more traditional routes.

Financing

Deposit

£500

Financing

Funding options are available from PCDL, EdAid and the Oil &amp; Gas Transition Training Fund.

Little bit of background on me - I previously worked in Steel Sales in Aberdeen and was made redundant around December 2015. I had very little experience of coding prior to attending CodeClan and only had the most fundamental understanding of using a computer (i.e Microsoft office/browsing reddit etc.). I heard about the course from my brother who had seen it on the BBC news and though sceptical of the cost (£4,500), look back on it as well worth the investment.

I joined the course in April and graduated in August to a Wed Developer job working with well-established but small Agency (checkout the linkedin here).

I can only comment on the curriculum during my time there – it still seems to be evolving with each iteration of the Cohort but they all tend to revolve around the 4 core parts of Ruby, Javascript, Java and frameworks(React/Ruby-on-Rails) and segment’s tend to have a couple of weeks doing class followed by a weeklong project where you take what you’ve learned and apply to a project of your choice. The order of which topic still seems to be changing with each Cohort but You’ll soon find yourself getting into the steady flow of learning where each week your hit with something new, you struggle a little trying to get to grips with some of the concepts (there is always plenty of opportunity to ask for assistance whether in class or in morning Stand-up) and towards the end of the week you consolidate the learning with weekend Homework which are like a mini project.

The instructors were experienced and the TA’s (previous students) were really helpful. And the staff were all very friendly and helpful towards the latter stages of the course where the course transitions towards finding a job. The jarring part of the course was the transition from the emphasis of learning to the section involved in employment. I felt that towards the end of the course the homework exercises started to take a back seat to CV preparation and coding tests. That said, it was definitely an important part of the course after crashing and burning in 2 interviews I was able to take advantage of resources at CodeClan like mock technical interviews and CV reviews. A lot of the advice I helped me put forward the best “me” for my last interview.

I genuinely had a great time at CodeClan. The staff, instructors and fellow class mates all helped to make for challenging, fun and rewarding experience.

Prior to CodeClan, my professional experience had primarily been limited to rigid, motonous roles. My last job was working in customer sevice for an online retailer of luxury fashion brands. At the time I was living in Germany and enjoying where I was, but not what I was doing. Chasing up missing pairs of Gucci socks with courier companies had run its course for me...

I’d gotten interested in coding and had started learning online, but it was all very muddled and I wasn’t learning good practices. When I came across CodeClan, it seemed like the next logical step.

Joining in November, my worries of whether I could fit in and keep pace soon eroded, as I found myself surrounded by a diverse set of enthusiastic individuals, each with their own unique talents and backgrounds.

The course is HARD but the instructors are GREAT. They know what we’re going through and go to great lengths to be considerate of that. When I wasn’t at my personal best and the course was getting tricky, they understood.

I’m now actively looking for work and can’t wait to see how the rest of my journey unfolds — after CodeClan, I feel like the road ahead is paved on solid ground.

First of all, the instructors in terms of friendliness, the environment are all very good. But if you don't come with some prior knowledge in the IT field, the course goes very fast and there is no room/time/system in place for after class recaps for those that didn't understand the lesson that day.

This will last the whole course. And I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Quite a few told me they would leave if they could get all or at least some considerable amount of their money back. So if you find yourself struggling, you need to go and ask and seek help, but this is easier said than done. You will get some answers, but you are mainly left to yourself. You will get some inspirational talk and cheers and affirmations, but this is not what you need or want. Again, instructors are friendly and approachable but they follow a strict curriculum and have the clock ticking to finish said topic in the set time in order for the next instructor to finish his/her lecture.

Fact is that almost half of the cohort did not have at least a basic or good understanding at the end of the course, but were continuously pressed on to learn one language after another, to work through one lab after another. Instead of sitting down in a small group setting and making sure the weaker students understand the new unit. This would have been more beneficial. If you bring this suggestion up, you are being told that it will come to you and it will work itself out. Really? No, it doesn't.

At the end nobody feels truly ready for a job (imposter syndrome), but for about 50% of the course this was the truth because they really weren't. Those that came with prior IT work experience (in any form) in the field it was a good course, I assume according to what I saw and what they were saying. For the rest of us who came from different fields, I definitely say that we were not taken care of enough and there is no system in place to help us catch up.

The course offers Ruby, JS, Java, react and teaches about dbs, and more, but at the end it is all a mix of some knowledge without a good foundation in any. You don't learn one language well enough to feel you are a coder. There should be more time on making sure the cohort/class understands the topic instead of just pressing on and gauging knowledge and understanding of the class based on the strong experienced students.

I felt I needed to write this since, I feel people are not honest for various reasons during the morning stand ups during the course and in other public settings and don't say how they really feel openly.

I am very social and don't mind speaking my mind and make friends easily so I found it easy to speak to students in my cohort and to cohorts before ours and two after. Once you get to know people they will tell you one on one what is going on, but not openly. Had I read a review like this I would have reconsidered and saved a considerable amount of money. As far as employment. Yes, everybody finds a job in the suggested time frame given by codeclan, but many go back to their old jobs or something totally unrelated to the course taught.

Best Thing I have ever Done, CodeClan Thank you, I am eternally grateful

Overall Experience:

Curriculum:

Instructors:

Job Assistance:

On the 1st of October, I moved to Glasgow from London to start the CodeClan course.
When I started the course, Code was just colours and jibrish for me, and now I am a fully qualified Software Developer, who can read and write code, and think of an idea and make it a reality.

Let me start with Steve the legend, our instructor that taught us how to code from week one, Git and Ruby, until week sixteen, final full-stack project Java & React.
Steve took very complicated examples and explained it to us in a way that was clear, and made us visualise it so it was very easy to understand, and if you didn't understand Steve would spend 1 on 1 time with you and until you got it.
All the instructors are legends in codeclan, they are all very helpful, supportive and always have time to hear my crazy ideas, not only listen to my ideas but provided me with advice on how to code them into a real product.
Lorrian Rew shocked me with the level of support and assistance she gave us, she basically helped all of us make a CV from scratch, taught us how to be interviewed, arranged speed networking and applied for jobs on our behalf, I am still shocked by the level of support, you can not even dream of this level of support and guidance.
Melinda the CEO gave us an empowering and an inspiring presentation about how to present and sell yourself and sell ideas and products, it has really changed the way I present and public speak forever, she gave us tips and told us the secrets of the trade, really invaluable session,
she also met with me to hear my ideas and she gave me really good advice and pointed me in the right direction.
A massive thank you to all the people who supported me.
So the conclusion is that it has been really really great, the best thing I have ever done!
CodeClan thank you very very much, I am forever Grateful for what you have given me.

I was working in the bar trade before coming to Codeclan, I had no real experience in coding. I had dabbled here and there with the odd Unity course and made a few 'advanced' spreadsheets for business use.

When I decided to leave the bar trade and look at my career options i found Codeclan, I went along to an open night, thought it sounded right up my street and signed up.

In short: I really enjoyed my time at CodeClan, the course is intensive but enjoyable.

I am hesitant to state exactly what we covered as I know the course is constantly changing and shifting. With that disclaimer in mind, when I went through (Cohort 5, finished September 2016) We covered at the core: Ruby, JavaScript, Java, Android Dev, SQL, Mongo, Rails and React, as well as a number of periphery technologies.

You have to come into the course willing to put in the time and effort, you very much get out of it what you put in, you could probably coast through and get to the end, but when it comes to the interviews at the end it will be clear who was keen on learning and who was just 'there'.

I was lucky enough to get employment within a few weeks of the course ending, and am now very happily working in Android development,

If you have ever considered the move into software development then this is a great way to do it. They teach practical skills that are relevant in the work place, and with the ever changing course you are being taught up to date technologies all the time.

Best thing to do though is go along to the open days they hold, ask the niggling questions and decide for yourself.

Little bit of background on me - I previously worked in Steel Sales in Aberdeen and was made redundant around December 2015. I had very little experience of coding prior to attending CodeClan and only had the most fundamental understanding of using a computer (i.e Microsoft office/browsing reddit etc.). I heard about the course from my brother who had seen it on the BBC news and though sceptical of the cost (£4,500), look back on it as well worth the investment.

I joined the course in April and graduated in August to a Wed Developer job working with well-established but small Agency (checkout the linkedin here).

I can only comment on the curriculum during my time there – it still seems to be evolving with each iteration of the Cohort but they all tend to revolve around the 4 core parts of Ruby, Javascript, Java and frameworks(React/Ruby-on-Rails) and segment’s tend to have a couple of weeks doing class followed by a weeklong project where you take what you’ve learned and apply to a project of your choice. The order of which topic still seems to be changing with each Cohort but You’ll soon find yourself getting into the steady flow of learning where each week your hit with something new, you struggle a little trying to get to grips with some of the concepts (there is always plenty of opportunity to ask for assistance whether in class or in morning Stand-up) and towards the end of the week you consolidate the learning with weekend Homework which are like a mini project.

The instructors were experienced and the TA’s (previous students) were really helpful. And the staff were all very friendly and helpful towards the latter stages of the course where the course transitions towards finding a job. The jarring part of the course was the transition from the emphasis of learning to the section involved in employment. I felt that towards the end of the course the homework exercises started to take a back seat to CV preparation and coding tests. That said, it was definitely an important part of the course after crashing and burning in 2 interviews I was able to take advantage of resources at CodeClan like mock technical interviews and CV reviews. A lot of the advice I helped me put forward the best “me” for my last interview.

I genuinely had a great time at CodeClan. The staff, instructors and fellow class mates all helped to make for challenging, fun and rewarding experience.

I took a leap of faith with code clan and signed up for their first cohort (the name of the class groups).

My previous experience with code was non existent and my background was too many years in retail.

We covered Ruby, ruby on rails, sql, javascript, css and html. The course isn't designed to make you a master programmer in 16 weeks. It's purpose is simply to equip you with the the foundation principles of software development and a basis to allow you to learn other languages to further develop yourself.

Over the course of the 16 weeks we learned the above using Agile methodologies and with a student to tutor ratio of 3:1. You were expected to be mature enough to ask for help if you needed it and support was always available (even late at night the day before a hand-in).

More importantly I made great friends and contacts within the industry and secured a job before the course had even ended.

As I was in the first batch there was always going to be teething problems. The cirriculum is tweaked each cohort based on the feedback from previous cohorts. The Student - Employer service had to be revised as it became apparent that the model planned was not as ideal as it could have been. What it had allowed us to do was get to know the employer partners and get an idea of what the businesses where about and what they were looking for from a student coming into the company. Several students were employed rather quickly from course completetion but many others did have a wait before being paired up - something which when you haven't earned for 4 months was tough and would have been nice to have known in advance.

I have been working for my employer nearly 4 months now and have enjoyed every minute of it. As of time of writing cohort 6 is the most recent and so I hope the little bumps that my cohort had faced have all been ironed out by now.

I loved my time at Codeclan and i hope my review has been useful ot those reading it.

I joined CodeClan with huge passion for coding and with nearly zero experience. And that was one of my best decission ever.

The environment was amazing, each and everyone involved with CodeClan was very friendly and approachable. The main instructor was a genius, and it was a fun to be at his class!

The curriculam was diverse, the main language they taught us was Ruby and ROR; along the path you would also learn SQL, NoSQL, TDD, CSS, JS etc. You have to give a ridiculous amount of time if you want to go along the course! And even after that you would realise that you actually had a very basic foundation of coding!

To be honest, I didn't join the course to have fun, I wanted a career out of it. And if your ultimate goal is to get a professional job, CodeClan is the right place. I had the job offer as a software developer (where i actually not using Ruby, but Python!) the very next week i finished the course. So, CodeClan has some magic wand on this respect!!

With my experience with CodeClan, I have no hesiatation to highly recommend CodeClan. Remember, CodeClan will provide you the best possible support you could expect, but you have to work mighty hard to have your dream come true ----.

I went in not knowing much more than how to write a hello world, and I got out with a damn good job before the course ended.

The curriculum is alright, a bit too dispersed. You get exposed to a lot of languages, which is nice, but you never go beyond simple CRUD apps. I had to spend a lot of time outside the classes to learn the stuff I really wanted (React/Redux/Advanced javascript).

You have outstanding instructors and not so outstanding ones, but overall they're competent and do a good job teaching the curriculum. There isn't an awful lot of support outside classes. They (instructors and TA's) just hang around doing their own thing until you go and ask them for help (which they promptly give). They should be more proactive and seek to help students - we're begginers after all, we need all the help we can get.

There was a career fair a month before the course ended (where I met my employer). I got to speak directly with the hiring managers and CEO's of a dozen companies (there were more but time was limited) and I had a really good time. It allowed many of us to make important connections and find a job some weeks after.

Overall it's worth it, without a doubt. Good value for the money. There's good job support.

I'm now working since the course ended (course ended on a Friday, I started on Monday) on my dream job - couldn't be happier!

Go for it, work even harder outside class, ask tons of questions, and you'll get a job.

I attended CodeClan Glasgow in late 2018, at first the course seemed great. Great instructors, great prospects. As we progressed through the course we quickly realised what a complete joke CodeClan is. The learning itself was fine and can't praise the instructors enough, however all the support staff are more than useless. They promise all these jobs and this wonderful "Speed Networking" event with 20 world class employers. In reality its more like 3 or 4 call centres looking for cheap labour to maintain out dated software. The jobs board had 1 Glasgow based job on it for most of the duration of the course, for a couple weeks it did go up to 2 but the extra job was a tech support job. When ever this was mentioned to staff we were made to feel like the bad guys, made to feel like we were being ungrateful. The learning environment is hardly what your'e promised either, it's actually still a building site with constant drilling, hammering and disruption. To add to the chaos our entire floor flooded with drain water, I think this still hasn't been fixed. The lack of coordination CodeClan has is actually laughable at times, we had students in our cohort emailing the jobs team about a job in a remote location only to be ignored for 2 weeks and then on one the few occasions when they did show face in Glasgow, they asked if anyone was interested. There are 5 people working on jobs and employer networking and from what we saw, it's a complete waste of 5 salaries, better use of the money would making the course cheaper. In our cohort there are only 2 people with jobs and they both came off their own back. Melinda the "CEO" is a joke as well, she puts on this fake persona about being a world leader etc etc, the truth is she will run CodeClan into the ground. The course is only 16 weeks but Melinda was in multiple times to do "damage control" but just made things worse. Blaming everyone except herself, throwing the instructors under the bus when they're the only thing holding this fragmented joke of a company together. In my opinion avoid CodeClan like the plague, spend the money on doing an HND and go into a junior role that way. I really wanted to like CodeClan, and I have made some great friends but it's not what you're sold and you'll be left vastly disappointed.

CodeClan's training is pretty good, although in a slightly odd, not-entirely-employable-where-I-live selection of languages. Their employment stats are 'optimistic'. It's just about statistically impossible for their employment rate to be as high as 90%. A third of my cohort was still unemployed 6 months after the course, and I've talked to graduates of other cohorts with similarly worrying reports. It's a hell of a lot of money to spend on a 66% employment rate.

CV review was poor ('Just use a template builder'). The in-house recruitment specialist/student engagement staff left me with the impression that they were using post-course interviews as an opportunity to harvest potential leads and employment stats rather than providing any assistance.

The course itself is good. The instructors are very passionate and motivated to help (most of the time). The student support team is amazing. Codeclan will look after you and support you 100% while you are a student. The curriculum is good and covers best practices.

Job hunt. Codeclan does not promise to get you a job but they say they will support and help you land your dream job with the help of over a 150 employer partners.

In reality, all that you get is someone to look at your CV and a speed networking event. It seems like they are understaffed, and staff members keep on being apologetic, saying they can't help as they are assigned to do the job of two other people on top of their duties.

If you just looking to study than this is a fairly good place, in terms of finding a job, am afraid not that great.

Response From: Kim Watson of CodeClan

Thank you for your review, at Codeclan we operate in a continuous improvement environment and welcome and value your feedback.

Whilst it’s great to hear that your experience of the course was positive, we would be keen to explore your comments on the employability front.

There are no guarantees of employment after completing the course however we do provide access to opportunities and support in the application process - currently 90% of our graduates get jobs within the Scottish Digital Tech industry, with 75% placed within 3 months of graduating.

Uk's first digital skills academy, Offers courses that fit within the SQA frameworks. Is accredited by the SQA to do so yet has no plans what so ever to be avalible for SAAS funding. That is from one of the founders own mouths. Leaving this well out of the reach of anyone without large means. Good luck if you are working class, you will need it finding the large fees.

Response From: Adam Bannon of CodeClan

Title: Acting CEO

Thursday, Aug 24 2017

Dear Anonymous,

Firstly, thank you for mentioning the fact that we offer our students the option to study for a Professional Development Award (PDA) in Software Development – a professional level qualification recognised and endorsed by employers across Scotland and accredited by the SQA – as part of our full-time Professional Software Development course.

We’re proud to be the first accredited digital skills academy in Scotland to offer a PDA in Software Development and we’ll soon have 100 students who have completed this, with many more to follow.

With regards to funding options, we do promote Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDL), administered by the UK Skills Funding Agency to potential students, commercial bank loans that can be used to help pay for work related learning. You can borrow between £300 and £10,000 to help support the cost of up to two years of learning.

Some students may also be eligible to access the Skills Development Scotland managed Oil & Gas Transition Training Fund. We have been able to offer some full and part-funded scholarships during our first 18 months of operation, usually dependent on sponsorship from partner organisations.

I note your comment around CodeClan not being eligible for SAAS funding and I wanted to take this opportunity to state that whilst we are not yet eligible, we are working through a process to be a registered provider for SAAS funding - to say we have no plans to do so is untrue.

We are always looking for student funding opportunities, both through government sponsored programmes and within our partner network.

Our apologies if the above information wasn’t offered during your discussion with a member of the our team.

CodeClan is a not-for-profit social enterprise, we do not have shareholders or founders. We acknowledge the cost of our course is significant to many people, however we believe in the value of what we deliver and in giving students the best opportunity to find a career in the digital technologies sector.

If you have any concerns or questions about any aspects of our course we’re always happy to discuss them over the phone on 0131 290 2600 or by email, with all the details available on our website.

Firstly, I have to come out and say that overall I loved the course and wouldn't trade in the experience for anything. However, at present I can't reccomend it as is because of the business model.

The tuition was great. The instructors were fantastic. I learnt tons. None of this was a problem.

The course promises help with job placements, at which point you are made to feel that – despite paying 4k – you are now nothing more than a piece of cattle. Miscommunication and false promises made to employers end in few people getting jobs quickly or being offered a job in the career that they joined the course to change from. A number of graduates were not taken seriously by the employers when they went in for developer roles and ended up being offered places in tech support or marketing.

Tragically, this trend shows little signs of slowing or changing as the head of relations with employer partners doesn't care in the slightest about the students.

Response From: Sara Dodd of CodeClan

Title: Head of Curriculum & Accreditation

Tuesday, Dec 13 2016

Dear Alumni,

We're sorry that you found the employment process disappointing and appreciate you taking the time to express your concerns - we have taken them very seriously. To be honest, we too felt that it needed refinement and have therefore made substantial improvements to this aspect of the course.

Firstly we have made it easier for employers to become partners, increasing the pool of tech companies looking to employ our graduates to 83, providing a rich pool of a wide variety of jobs.

Secondly, we have created a series of engagement activities for employers and students from company presentations to Meet-the-Employer events and Speed-networking evenings. Our employer engagement team works individually with each student to match them to the right job, opening up as many opportunities as possible with multiple interviews and site visits.

Lastly, we have further developed our curriculum to match what employers want and extended our career preparation sessions to include technical interview and test techniques working with expert tech recruiters. This has made the transition to employment highly successful for the majority of our students - in fact 85% are employed in the tech sector within 6 months of completing the course.

I sincerely hope you have found the skills you learned on the course useful and productive and have been able to apply them to a new role.

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